You are here

Impact of Wi-Fi on the Telecommunication Industry

17 Jan 2014

There has been an explosion of mobile data usage in 2013, driven primarily by Smart phone and Tablet devices, with expectations of “always on” Broadband connectivity and high speed browsing. Mobile Network Operators will increasingly be stretched for capacity in high density locations and peak time usage.

To meet this challenge, a whole new customer experience is being enabled using Wi-Fi to support high quality broadband everywhere.

By 2018, the ecosystem of Wi-Fi is expected to be the heart of wireless data (CAGR of 35%). 45% of wireless data capacity will come from Wi-Fi offload. The expansion of venues from hotels, airports and convention centres to shopping malls, super markets, stadiums, public transport will reach ubiquitous levels of 55 million from 5.5 million hotspots currently. Leading smartphone chipset vendors (such as Qualcomm), handset makers (including Apple and Samsung), wireless software developers (such as InterDigital or SmithMicro) are offering development platforms supporting sophisticated wireless bearer management. New standards of Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) which addresses the network operator end of seamless hand-off and roaming and device-side technologies like the Wi-Fi Alliance’s Passpoint™ certification for Hotspot 2.0, are enabling seamless interoperability.

With extensive backhaul in place, CityLink is well positioned to ride the wave of Wi-Fi evolution. Wi-Fi is well established with the residential market and to explore how you can take advantage of the full range of capability in the event centre, public spaces, enterprises and telecommunication industry, contact CityLink.